slow transfer across network

I have installed two nics in a pc and have connected one to my dsl and the other to my network. I have connected another pc to the network hub. I have succssfully setup internet connection sharing. I can see shared folders accross the network. However, when I attempt to transfer files it takes forever and I get intermittent messages telling me the network cable is unplugged. Thanks in advance

 

Is there a great distance between the pc's? I had run some cable one time and had a connection but the distance was so long the signal was weak. I cut ten or fifteen feet off and was able to connect ok. Or should I say downloading speeds went from regular modem speed to much faster.

 

I am using only about a 10 ft cable.

 

Well I don't know much about this networking stuff. I have a home network and am doing a little 'light networking" as a side job. Do you have two nic's in one pc?

 

When you transferring the files are you using mapped drives or just browsing through network neighborhood....? You'll defintely want to map a drive or drives to keep that persistent mapping going.

 

what does mapping a drive do and how does it work?

 

A little update on the conditions:

Connecting to the internet on the client computer results in an extremely slow download or web content, mail, etc. File transfer across the network is slow.

PC running ICS is:

- P4 2 gig running XP
- 2 NICs are installed, both are 10/100 nics, Linksys
- One nic connects to DSL line - functioning perfectly
- the other connects to my 10 mbit hub

Client PC is:

- AMD 450 runnning XP
- one 10 mbit Realtek NIC
- Internet is slow


File transfer between the two PCs is very slow. I have mapped drives as suggested by NetEngineer to no avail. In the system tray on the P4 ICS server, the connection icon appears for local connection 2 (my local ethernet) and says "a network cable is unplugged". It appears regularly (every 30 secs to 1 min) and then disappears. I have reset up the connections, swapped cables etc, no change.

Any other info would be great. Thanks.

 

The fact that you see the cable unplugged message is strongly suggesting you have a cable or NIC hardware issue. I'd start by closely checking the cable. It's very common for a poor connection in the cable to cause the symptoms you describe. You might start a large transfer and then press the cable close to the connections to the sides and see if some tension forces it to make a connection and helps with the problem. I believe you'll find your problem has nothing to do with software.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I was beginning to lean towards a hardware issue last night and just replaced the 10 mbit nic and hub with new 10/100 equipment. The 10 mbit stuff was easily 5 years old and sounds like was suspect as well as maybe issues with 10/100 and 10 mbit only compatibility.

 

And I assume that all is working well now?

 

Yes it is all fixed. Most appreciative to Johnwill, your comments pretty much confirmed my thoughts after I had slept on it that the equipment was faulty or incompatible.